Twilight 25: Round Four
by thewasofshall
Summary: Set of 25 drabbles written for round four of thetwilight25 with Bella as a central character; AU/AH.
1. wishing well

**A/N: **_The following story is a complete work of fiction; all character names and personality traits have been modified from those created by, and copy to, Stephenie Meyer._

_All prompts were pre-read/beta'd by soup_lover_9._

**

* * *

**

**The Twilight Twenty-Five  
**(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 18. Stagger  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: T

stagger _v_: walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall

* * *

She stands gracelessly, performing some unrecognizable two-step in an effort to regain equilibrium. This isn't the first time she's purposefully gotten drunk, it's just the first time she's done so alone. The white paper catches moonlight, and she bends to reach it, gripping dirt with her fingernails before dropping the bottle to stay balanced. She leaves it there, tipped sideways in their favorite spot, and staggers down the path, reeling with alcohol-induced vertigo and tears that blur. When she reaches the edge, she sways before hurling a rock over.

Unsaid declarations sail with it before both sink into the sea.


	2. choosing sides

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 20. Stolen  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: K+

steal _v_: move somewhere quietly or surreptitiously; direct (a look) quickly and unobtrusively

* * *

Edward hears their shrieks of laughter first, that high-pitched giggle that only comes from girls ages thirteen and under. He hopes it's Alice today and not Lauren or Jessica. He almost likes Alice– or could, anyway.

"You want anything?" He's already out of his seat, itching to leave.

"Uh, yeah," Emmett slowly looks over. "Coke."

Edward nods, knows that Emmett doesn't see, and then trys not to run.

He's quiet, but waits too long and gets caught. That blush comes, that little secret smile, and then he's catching his breath around the corner.

He thinks, _Emmett's little sister_.

He fails.


	3. waiting for a prince

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 19. Airport photo (found at community. livejournal. com/thetwilight25/16325. html)  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: K

She had to have bought a ticket to stand there because you can't stand there without one. But she's been standing, _just_ standing, for the last forty-three minutes. No cat nap, no paperback novel, no handheld breakfast– just her hands on the glass and a purse that hides chapstick and hard candy. Her smile, though, can't forget her smile. No one smiles like that at an airport. No one's ever really happy to be where she is.

The security door opens and she turns, her fists clenching until she's wrapped up in arms and crying through tears.

Then he understands.


	4. fake it 'til you make it

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 10. Feign  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward, (Bella/Jasper), Alice/Jasper  
**Rating**: M

feign _v_: pretend to be affect by; give the appearance of

* * *

"Ready?" She nods, pressing her fingers down her dress until imaginary wrinkles are smooth. "We don't have to go in there you know."

"I know." She looks anywhere but at that scripted word. "I just want to congratulate them."

"And…"

"And then get the fuck out of here, _okay_." She looks over at me.

"Just checking." I smirk.

"Jerk," she mutters while still grabbing for my hand. I look down and sigh. I wish this were real, that _we_ were real. I wish that they weren't getting engaged and that she didn't love him.

That maybe she loved me instead.


	5. runner's high

**The Twilight Twenty-Five  
**(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 12. Push  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Edward, Bella/Jasper  
**Rating**: T

push _v_: exert oneself to attain something

* * *

Left, right.

His feet slap against the pavement, their steady rhythm drowned out by the heavy rain and his quick intakes of breath.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.

He's been at this for hours, for miles. Anything to get that image out of his head– of her and _him_ in the bed he can't use but won't replace.

Left, right.

His muscles are screaming, cramping up, but he needs this to forget the thought of them touching, kissing, laughing– the shock of seeing that new ring on her finger.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.


	6. desperately seeking bella swan

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 23. Under  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella, Edward  
**Rating**: K+

under _prep_: extending or directly below

* * *

Everyday, before first period and then after seventh, he watches Michael Newton politely excuse himself to the left of Bella Swan's thighs. He either sees them smile congenially or else joke about college deadlines and the way Senora Groff encourages her pupils with wildly gesticulating Spanish. But sometimes he will notice the look Mike wears while Bella rifles through half-used notebooks, the way he licks his lips and then turns before she can see him.

Most especially, though, Edward Cullen remains quietly jealous of Michael Newton for the simple, fortunate grace which has bestowed him a locker underneath Bella Swan's.


	7. one night stand

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 6. Defile  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Edward, Edward/Bella  
**Rating**: M

defile _v_: sully, mar, or spoil; desecrate or profane (something sacred)

* * *

He hovers over her, memorizing the not-quite reddish-brown curls splayed wildly across his pillowcase. Her eyelids are closed, fluttering pre-climax, and he pumps rhythmically, sub-consciously, just to finish.

Then she comes, hugging his thighs and scratching his back with painted, fake nails. When he sees her not-brown eyes and too-drunk smile, he feels the shame crawl up his belly and into his throat.

In the morning, when he's finally alone, he opens a drawer to look at a photograph of his wife.

He thinks, _I love you_,_ I miss you_,_ I hate you for being gone._

But mostly, _I'm sorry_.


	8. the queen bee

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 13. Legs photo (found at community. livejournal. com/thetwilight25/16325. html)  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella, Edward/Lauren  
**Rating**: T

Bella watches the skirt.

It had only met dress code at school because of the capri leggings worn underneath, but now those leggings are gone and the skirt's riding up with each movement of Lauren's body.

Lauren smiles, giggles, and pulls it down.

Bella scowls.

Lauren leans toward Edward and then their legs are touching.

Bella feels something drop into the pit of her stomach and quickly ducks her head to hide the blush and hot stinging behind her eyes. She can't see anything except Lauren's hand touching Edward's knee, chest, and bicep.

She doesn't see how he looks back.


	9. mrs robinson

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 5. Damp  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/James, Edward  
**Rating**: M

damp _adj_: slightly wet

* * *

She watches in her backup pair of Gucci sunglasses and matching Prada bikini, posing just _so _even though he never looks over. She grips her strawberry daquiri for something to do, knowing that her husband won't text about coming home late, that checking her phone for messages is pointless.

Even at dusk, Bella feels warm all over, that slow start that now curls through her.

"Mrs. Richards." He tips his head before turning and leaving through the gate.

Bella bites her lip as soon as she hears that _click_, thinks of Edward's hard muscles through his sweat-drenched t-shirt to come.


	10. a doll's life

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 2 Acquiesce  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/James  
**Rating**: K+

acquiesce _v_: accept something reluctantly but without protest

* * *

She's in the middle of everything and the focus of everyone. She can't have what she wants unless what she wants is okay to have, so she ceases to want, starts smiling when she's allowed to have.

When she's encouraged to say yes when asked – tonight, in public, at the gala she doesn't want to attend – she nods and smiles.

Her mother smiles, and she can exhale. (She doesn't cry because she can't, not after fifteen years of trying not to.)

As James kneels before her, ring in hand, every single person looks their way.

Her smile is perfect.


	11. a room with a view

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 24. Wander  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: K+

wander _v_: walk or move in a leisurely, casual, or aimless way

* * *

You notice her belly first.

Not the waddle or the hospital gown. Not even the way she's tapping out some kind of rhythm that matches the humming you can only hear when she passes by your door.

You're able to sit up now, and the hallway's most interesting, so you see her belly first.

Then slowly, the rest of her. Over and over again.

By the sixth pass, you stop asking questions and just smile as her belly blocks your view.

Then, before she hits twenty, she's gone.

Instead of dreaming about what brought you here, you think of her.


	12. forward momentum

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 16. Ripple  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella  
**Rating**: K+

ripple _n_: a small wave or series of waves on the surface of water; a thing resembling such a wave or series of waves in appearance or movement

* * *

The breeze whips against her cheeks, tangling her dress between her knees and pushing her hair across her face. It's warm, mid-day, but she still has goosebumps down every inch of exposed skin and dried tears stuck to her face.

The grass, all the way up to her waist, sways with the wind and sings to her as she tramples through it. With her arms outstretched and her fingertips rushing across the tips of wildflowers and disturbing the busy work of bees, she can almost imagine how it feels to fly.

As if she were running to instead of away.


	13. yes

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 7. Tent photo (found at community. livejournal. com/thetwilight25/16325. html)  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: T

She'd always said that she would never be the type to marry– that she'd seen the way her father lived because of how her mother had left– and had sworn off the institution for good measure.

"I'll probaby still be persuaded to have your children," she had added, smiling. "So don't waste your money on a ring."

He watched her smirk at his homemade tent before trailing a finger across their king-sized sheets. Then she noticed the sheet of paper, and he swallowed.

_I know you won't marry me, _it read, _but can we still spend our lives together?_


	14. accidental drowning

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 21. Surface  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Edward/Bella  
**Rating**: T

surface _n_: the outside part or uppermost layer of something; _v_: rise or come up (to this layer)

* * *

The sun is rising. The girl onscreen casually leans over the side of her boat, swirling her fingers through the otherwise still water, and just breathes. She's made it.

He knows what's coming, though. Even as his mind fights it, his body prepares. His muscles clench, his toes curl, and his fingers grip the armrests. With his eyes scrunched tight, he watches as the decaying arm shoots out of the water, grabbing the girl and scaring the shit out of him.

He probably screams.

When the credits roll, he sees Bella holding in laughter, then feels her hand in his.

* * *

_(Jason Voorhees scares the crap out of me, too.)_


	15. euphoria

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 3. Bliss  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella  
**Rating**: T

bliss _n_: perfect happiness or great joy; (bliss out _v_ or blissed out _adj_: reach a state of perfect happiness, typically so as to be oblivious to everything else)

* * *

It's not the bass that gets her, the heavy thudthudthud that's seeped inside her bones and started pumping through her sluggish veins.

It's not the bright lights, either, the constant flashflashflash that, could she see, would slow down what's already going so fast.

It's not the e on her tongue or the sweat dripping down her back, not the way she won't remember anything tomorrow yet still knows exactly what's going on tonight.

It's her favorite song, one tiny little beat that just keeps coming and going.

Coming and going.

Coming and going.

She closes her eyes and finds home.

* * *

_(Two things inspired this: the high contrast remix of "Hometown Glory" and the episode of Misfits in which it was featured.)_


	16. promises, promises

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 11. Hollow  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: T

hollow _adj_: without significance; insincere

* * *

Her mother always said, "Never trust a man when his pants are around his ankles." Then, after a kiss on the cheek, she'd finish, "I love you, kid, but _always_ make them wear a rubber."

So she said yes when he asked, and agreed even though she wasn't ready, and didn't say anything back when "God, I fucking love you" flew out of his mouth right before he collapsed on top of her.

When she saw him next and he pretended not to remember or care, she rested easy. She'd made him wear a rubber and hadn't believed him anyway.


	17. ostracized in navy blue

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 8. Demure  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella  
**Rating**: K+

demure _adj_: reserved, modest, and shy; clothing that lends such an appearance

* * *

Being the new girl at the beginning of junior year is bad enough.

But try having every one of your teachers call attendance that first day and then pause, asking, "Wait, are you Charlie and Renee's daughter? How _is_ she?" Because then then you'll have to smile and say, "Good, she's doing good," while nodding.

Because you don't actually _know_.

Oh, wait, your Police Chief father stopped you from leaving the house because he needed to make sure that the length of your skirt met the dress code (that, oops!, doesn't exist anymore).

Let me tell you– it will _suck_.


	18. teenage subterfuge

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 1. Jack Daniel's photo (found at community. livejournal. com/thetwilight25/16325. html)  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella/Alice  
**Rating**: T

By twelve, they'd witnessed drunken debauchery. (Their brothers were fifteen and, well, _boys_.)

By thirteen, they'd heard every whispered and explicit conversation–detailing things they didn't want to think about, _ever_–before politely declining each "could you please just–" plea. (They couldn't.)

By fourteen, they'd realized that no one liked them for more than their familial proximity or understood that being the police chief's daughter didn't mean she'd tell.

The bottle was their only chance.

Hidden in the snow, trying to shush their own giggles, they each took a small, teeny sip–just a taste, really–and promptly coughed.


	19. dearest cecilia

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 15. Return  
**Pen name**: thewasofshall  
**Pairing**: Bella  
**Rating**: K+

return _v_: come or go back to a place or person

* * *

Whenever she watches it, she starts crying within the first twenty minutes, pulls apart used tissues while yelling at Briony onscreen.

She's read the book four times (finally bought her own copy) and on her third DVD (for the twenty-first viewing) because she can't help watching the movie over and over again.

Even though she prepares herself, says "you _know_ what's coming so I don't know why you keep doing this," she gets two-thirds in, to that same damn scene, and starts sobbing all over again.

The café, the two of them, and that one line.

"Come back to me."

* * *

_(I've linked a short YouTube video on my profile if you're unfamiliar with Atonement.)_


	20. my best friend's girl

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 17. Simple**  
Pen name**: thewasofshall**  
Pairing**: Bella/Jasper, Bella/Edward**  
Rating**: T

simple _adj_: plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form, nature, or design; without much decoration or ornamentation

* * *

The ring was hard not to look at. It wasn't anything much – or at all, according to her mother – but she'd always hated wearing jewelry. Still did, actually, even though she was engaged now and expected to feel differently. The band felt heavy and constricting while the diamond attracted too much attention to what she felt was a false promise.

Maybe it was the fact that her ring was equivalent to just under a year's rent.

Or maybe, if she was truthful, it was the baby kicking inside of her and how her fiancé and its father weren't the same.

* * *

_(Judge for yourself: a picture of Bella's ring is on my profile.)_


	21. a case of notquite hemophobia

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 4. Collapse**  
Pen name**: thewasofshall**  
Pairing**: Bella**  
Rating**: K

collapse _v_: (of a person) fall down and become unconscious

* * *

She wasn't afraid of needles, didn't dislike hospitals, and wasn't worried that her father would go into the OR but not come out. She wasn't even squemish about blood, really, it was just that the smell of it, while watching it leave her body through a tiny tube, made her inexplicably nauseous and suddenly lightheaded. Every single time.

She shouldn't have been surprised, then, that she closed her eyes to a slight pinprick and then opened them to a trio of nurses, helping her sit up, rubbing her back, and asking if this happened often.

Stupid O Negative blood type.


	22. wishful thinking

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 14. Quixotic**  
Pen name**: thewasofshall**  
Pairing**: Bella/Edward**  
Rating**: K+

quixotic _adj_: exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical

* * *

Dating the great-great-great-grandson of their town's first mayor was a big deal. They might've been eighteen, he might've been lying about his real name (his face and address, however, couldn't), and she might've been a bit too middle class for his mother, but that didn't mean that what he'd said he felt, or even what he'd actually felt, was wrong.

It just wasn't _right_. (For someone like him, anyway, someone who put roman numerals after his name).

So she stopped answering his calls and avoided him– if only to break his heart so that he wouldn't, sometime later, break hers.


	23. aromatherapy

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 25. Bathtub photo (found at community. livejournal. com/thetwilight25/16325. html)**  
Pen name**: thewasofshall**  
Pairing**: Edward/Bella**  
Rating**: T

The title jumped out at him: "Ten Proven Ways to Get in the Mood." Numbers eight and seven: have a glass of red wine or a piece of dark chocolate. Number six: de-stress your bedroom. Number four: take up yoga. Number nine: know your cycle.

He thought it was bullshit.

Bella only wanted to have sex when she was "in the mood"– which turned out to be once or twice a year. He didn't believe that taking a jasmine bubble bath or lighting vanilla candles (numbers two and one, respectively) would do anything to up her libido.

Until they did.


	24. magic

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 9. Elixir**  
Pen name**: thewasofshall**  
Pairing**: Edward/Bella**  
Rating**: K+

elixir _n_: a magical or medicinal potion

* * *

"Oh, brother!" Bella gasps, clutching her stomach. "How quick you were to betray!"

Edward, on his knees, starts sobbing.

"Leave me, brother! Leave me to die in peace!"

Edward softly touches Bella's forehead, making the sign of the cross before mouthing a prayer. (It's not for Sebastian but for him, to give him courage toward the girl he's just pretended to kill but hasn't pretended to love.) Then quietly, "Forgive me, Sebastian."

Alone, Bella gives one gasping breath before falling silent.

Then she inhales, sucking in air, and holds up a tiny glass vial to the light.

The curtain closes.


	25. moneylove

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
(thetwilight25. livejournal. com)

**Prompt**: 22. Trap**  
Pen name**: thewasofshall**  
Pairing**: Bella/Edward**  
Rating**: T

trap _v_: induce (someone), by means of trickery or deception, to do something they would not otherwise want to do

* * *

When they see Edward, they start to fan themselves, mouthing what they'd like to do to him given half a chance. He's free game, they say, no ring.

Then she comes along, belly too big she can't see around it, and Edward starts following her around, rubbing her back every few steps, touching their baby instead of her hand. They zero in on her naked ring finger, wonder why she's already seven months in without so much as a prenup.

One approaches her when she's alone, slips her a business card, says she still has time to lock him in.

* * *

_(The phrase "no ring" is shamelessly stolen from an episode of Arrested Development.)_


End file.
